Coexistence Manager for Notes 3.8.4

The Name Rules tab of a Directory Connector’s Advanced Settings specifies how new objects provisioned into the target directory will be named—i.e., how the unique values of their key fields will be composed, assembled or otherwise derived. The Name Rules tab displays a table, where each table row represents one method the connector may use to compose and assign a unique name (key field value) to the object.

Two or more methods may be defined in the table, to provide alternate methods in case the method(s) already tried do not yield a unique value. That is, if the first (top) method in the list yields a value that is not unique, the connector then applies the next method in the list to try to assign a unique name to the object. This process repeats as the connector works its way through the list from top to bottom, until either a unique value is composed and assigned, or the last method in the list fails to produce a unique value. If no method in the list produces a unique value, the connector notes in the log that it is unable to create an object, and skips to the next object to be provisioned.

Three buttons below the table let you define new object-naming methods (to add to the list) or edit existing methods in any of three ways:

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Add Script: Define a script to determine the values to assign to the object’s key field. (See the sample script in this screenshot.)

Note that a script can be used to assign different values conditionally (per object), whereas a rule (next option below) cannot. A script can test environmental conditions (per object), as shown above, and then assign different values depending on the outcome of the test.

Click OK to add the script to the Name Rules table of methods and dismiss this Add Script dialog box.

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Add Rule: Define a rule to determine how object names will be composed, assembled or otherwise derived. A DC connector evaluates such a rule as an expression, and for each object assigns the result to the object’s key field.

A rule assembles an assignment value for each object from any number, combination and sequence of source attribute values and text string constants, which in turn may be processed or derived by:

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Keeping only a specified portion of the string (defined by the starting and ending character positions), and discarding the rest.

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Appending a string of "fill" characters to fill the capacity of the attribute field (character may be a space or any other specified character).

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Trimming a string of repetitive "fill" characters (e.g., spaces) that follow an attribute value.

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Setting a capitalization preference for alphabetic characters in the value.

Click OK to add the rule to the Name Rules table of methods and dismiss this Add Rule dialog box.

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Add Attribute: Select an attribute from the drop-down list box, whose value (per object) will be assigned to the object’s key field. Use the drop-down list to specify the attribute, and click OK.

After you have defined a method (when it appears in the table), you can move its position in the list, copy it, edit its defintion, or delete it altogether:

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Move Up: Move the selected method up one position in the list.

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Copy: Make a copy of the selected method, and then Edit the copy via the Edit button.

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Edit: Edit the definition of a selected method. (In the table: Select the method you want to edit, and click Edit.)

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Remove: Delete the definition of a selected method. (In the table: Select the method you want to delete, and click Remove.)

Advanced Settings tab: attribute mapping features

Directory objects in both Domino and Active Directory are saved as database records. Each object record contains an assortment of data elements—what we call "attributes" or "fields"—for things such as first name, last name, title, department, office, phone number, email address and so forth. Domino and AD save many of the same object attributes, although they often don’t identify them by the same attribute names, and each directory contains some attributes that the other does not. Also, both Domino and AD offer several undefined attributes that you can customize (assign and name) for your own purposes.

When objects are copied from one directory to the other, or object data is synchronized between the two directories, the updating process must be told how the object attributes in the two environments correspond to one another— for example, so users’ middle names in one directory don’t appear as their phone numbers in the other.

CMN’s Directory Connector knows how the default Domino and AD object attributes correspond to one another, and these default attribute mappings are suitable in most environments. But since many organizations customize their use of directory object attributes, the DC’s Advanced Settings tab lets you customize a connector’s attribute mappings to meet your own local needs.

Attribute mapping is necessary when copying entire objects from one directory to another (provisioning) or when copying the field contents of an object in one directory to the corresponding field of the same object in the target directory (updating). Attribute mapping isn’t used when deleting objects, since deletions occur at the object level, not at the field (attribute) level.

The DC Advanced Settings tab for each of the four object types offers two sub- tabs for attribute-mapping features. Both tabs (features) define how attributes in the source directory will correspond to attributes in the target directory, but:

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Provision Attribute: Defines these attribute mappings for when the connector is provisioning (adding new) objects in the target.

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Update Attribute: Defines these attribute mappings for when the connector is updating (editing) objects in the target.

Either tab opens the same panel for attribute mappings:

The Attribute Mappings panel shows a table that lists the defined mappings for the selected connector—for either the provisioning or updating function. Each line in the table is independent of the others, since no two lines can define mapping for the same target attribute.

The buttons below the table let you define new attribute mappings or edit existing mappings in any of four ways:

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Add Empty: Add an "empty" mapping, to always assign a null value to a particular Target Attribute. In the Add Empty dialog box, select the Target Attribute from the drop-down list, and click OK:

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Add Script: Define a script to determine the values to assign to a particular Target Attribute. (See sample script in the screenshot below.)

Select the Target Attribute from the drop-down list, type the script into the text box, and click OK.

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Add Rule: Define a rule to determine how attribute values will be composed, assembled, processed or otherwise derived to be assigned to a particular Target Attribute for various objects. A DC connector evaluates an attribute value rule as an expression, and for each object assigns the result to the specified Target Attribute.

A rule assembles an assignment value for each object from any number, combination and sequence of source attribute values and text strings, which in turn may be processed by:

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Keeping only a specified portion of the string (defined by the starting and ending character positions), and discarding the rest.

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Appending a string of "fill" characters to fill the capacity of the attribute field (character may be a space or any other specified character).

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Trimming a string of repetitive "fill" characters (e.g., spaces) that follow an attribute value.

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Setting a capitalization preference for alphabetic characters in the value.

Select the Target Attribute from the drop-down list, use the on-screen controls to enter the rule into the text box, and click OK.

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Add Map: Define a simple mapped association to assign (for each object) the value of a particular Source Attribute to the object’s particular corresponding Target Attribute. Use the drop-down lists to specify the source and target attributes, and click OK:

After you have defined an attribute mapping (when it appears in the table), you can edit its definition or delete it altogether.

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Edit: Edit the definition of a selected mapping. (In the table: Select the mapping line you want to edit, and click Edit.)

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Remove: Delete the definition of a selected mapping. (In the table: Select the mapping line you want to delete, and click Remove.)

Advanced Settings tab: object filtering features

A CMN DC connector can be configured to include in its operations only certain objects that meet one or more certain conditions, or that meet any of a list of conditions. These object filters are defined independently for the four object types: Users, Contacts, Groups and Resources. Then, for each object type, object filter sets also are defined independently for a connector’s different operations: provisioning objects, updating objects and deleting objects.

The Directory Connector Advanced Settings tab offers three sub-tabs to control object scope and filtering:

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Source Scope: Selects objects from the source system for processing. During synchronization, the Provision and Update filters may further refine the objects included.

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Provision Filters: Prior to the selected connector operation, defines the objects within the source scope that will be provisioned (newly created).

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Update Filters: Prior to the selected connector operation, defines the objects within the source scope that will be updated.


	NOTE: Existing target objects excluded by the Provision and Update filters do not cause deletion of corresponding target objects. Only manually deletion of source objects or changing the source scope will delete the corresponding target objects.

Any of the three tabs opens the same panel for object filtering:

This Object Filtering panel shows a table that lists the defined filter(s) for the selected operation (tab) for the selected object type (tab) of the selected connector. Each line in the table defines a single filter, which tells the connector to include in its operation only objects that satisfy the filter’s defined condition(s).

Important: If two or more filters appear in the table, they are logically associated by the OR operator. That is, an object is included by the connector if is passes any of the individual filters in the list. Each additional filter in the list makes the overall set of filters less restrictive.

Buttons below the table let you add new filters to the list, edit a previously defined filter in the list, or delete a filter from the list:

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Add Filter: Add a new filter to the table list.

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Edit: Edit the definition of a selected filter. (In the table: Select the filter you want to edit, and click Edit.)

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Remove: Delete the definition of a selected filter. (In the table: Select the filter you want to delete, and click Remove.)

The Add and Edit buttons both open the Filter Definition dialog box (described below), which lets you define a single new filter.


	IMPORTANT: If you are upgrading from an earlier version connector and want to update Users as well as Contacts, and have chosen to Overwrite Object Names (on the General tab of Advanced Settings): You must also remove the filter condition that excludes user objects from the Update function, here in the Update Filters tab. Select the Filter Name for the filter definition that contains this condition: %script% Equals,contact Then click the Edit button to open the Filter Definition dialog box, select the [%script% Equals,contact] line, click Remove, and click OK to save the filter.

Filter Definition dialog box

The Filter Definition dialog box is designed to help you compose one or more conditions to make up an object filter.

A DC connector filter condition is defined in the form of an expression that evaluates to either true or false, and that is composed of at least one operand ("A" in the illustration) with an operator ("B"). For most conditions a second operand ("C") is also required to define the limit or scope of the operator ("B").

Note that a second operand ("C") is required for any operator ("B") other than Present or Not present, since only expressions with one of those two operators can be evaluated without a second, comparative operand value. Any of the other eight operators would be meaningless without a second operand to compare to the value of the first operand ("A").

The flow chart below illustrates this process.

To define a new filter (beginning on the object filtering panel):

Click Add Filter to open the Filter Definition dialog box (shown above).

Enter a Name for the filter, as you want it to appear in the filters table in the Object Filtering panel (for visual identification purposes only).

Use the Attribute or Rule or Script feature (buttons in the top-right corner of the dialog box) to define the required operand. Clicking any of these buttons pops up the associated dialog box, in which you can define the attribute, rule or script that you want to use to determine the required operand of the expression.

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Attribute: Select a Source Attribute from the drop-down list box, whose value (per object) will be inserted as the required operand of this conditional expression. Use the drop-down lists to specify the source and target attributes, and click OK:

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Rule: Define a rule to determine how values will be composed, assembled, processed or otherwise derived (per object) for the required operand of this expression. A DC connector evaluates this rule as a "sub-expression," and inserts the result for each object into the conditional expression as the required operand.

A rule assembles an assignment value for each object from any number, combination and sequence of source attribute values and text strings, which in turn may be processed by:

•

Keeping only a specified portion of the string (defined by the starting and ending character positions), and discarding the rest.

•

Appending a string of "fill" characters to fill the capacity of the attribute field (character may be a space or any other specified character).

•

Trimming a string of repetitive "fill" characters (e.g., spaces) that follow an attribute value.

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Setting a capitalization preference for alphabetic characters in the value.

Use the on-screen controls to enter the rule into the text box, and click OK:

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Script: Enter a script (see sample script in screenshot below) to determine the values to assign to the required operand for the condition. Type the script into the text box, and click OK.

Note: A script can be used to assign different values conditionally (per object), whereas a rule (the preceding option above) cannot. A script can test environmental conditions (per object), as shown in this example, and then assign different values depending on the outcome of the test.

From the Attribute, Rule or Script dialog box: Click OK to dismiss the dialog box and insert the newly defined attribute, rule or script into the Operand field of the Filter Definition dialog box.

Click one of the Specify Operation radio buttons to specify the operator to be used in this expression.

If this condition requires a comparative operand (i.e., following any operator other than Present or Not present) to set the limit or scope of the condition: Type the operand value into the Value text box.

Click the Add button to compile the operand(s) and operator into a conditional true/false expression. The program then inserts a one-line summary of the condition into the list to the left of the Add and Remove buttons. For example:

mail IsPresent,
postoffice NotContain,Birmingham
postoffice NotContain,Denver

Repeat steps 3–6 for each condition you want to define as part of this same filter.

A filter may contain one or more conditions. Each condition defined for this filter will appear as one line in the list to the left of the Add and Remove buttons.

Remember: Multiple conditions defined for a single filter (in the same displayed list) are logically associated by the AND operator. That is, the filter is deemed satisfied for a given object only if all of the conditions in the list are met.

Advanced Settings tab: object association features

A CMN DC connector needs to be told how to determine which objects in the source directory correspond to which objects in the target. The method for this object association (or object matching) must be specified to every DC connector, together with any other information the connector will need to perform the actual match-ups by that method.

Object association is usually accomplished by finding an object attribute in the source whose values are unique per object, and also reliably match the values of some attribute in the target directory, which also must be unique per object. The two such attributes are called "matching" attributes, and they must be specified to the CMN DC connector if this is the association/matching method the connector will use. Typically these key fields are the SMTP email addresses on both sides, but the matching attributes may vary in environments where source and/or target attributes have been customized.

A DC connector associates source and target objects by comparing per-object values in the source to per-object values in the target. These per-object values can be defined as simple attribute values, as described above, and can also be defined by rules and/or scripts. Also, the source and target comparison values need not be derived in the same way—that is, the source value may be a simple attribute value, while the connector may derive target values by a rule or script.

The Object Association dialog box may contain one or more defined associations. If two or more associations are defined in the list, the connector considers them one at a time, sequentially, top to bottom. That is, for each source object, the connector first applies the first method in the list and, if no match is found, will then try the second, and then the third, and so forth until a match is found.

When a match is found, a connector configured to Update objects then compares attribute values in the source to the corresponding (mapped) attribute values in the target, and updates target values as necessary.

If no match is found in the target for an object in the source, the connector concludes it is a new source object (previously unprovisioned), and copies it to the target—if the connector is configured to Provision new objects.

In any case, the connector then advances to the next source object in the list.

When all source objects have been processed in this way, any remaining, unmatched target objects are presumed to correspond to objects that have been removed from the source. If the connector is configured to perform the Delete operation, it then deletes such objects from the target.

To define the object-association method(s) for a connector:

Beginning in the Advanced Settings | Association panel: Click Add Association to open the Object Association dialog box.

Enter an Association Name, as you want it to appear in the table list in the preceding Association panel (for visual identification purposes).

Use the Attribute or Rule or Script features (top-right corner of the dialog box) to define the comparative values for both the Source (left) and Target (right) objects. Clicking any of these buttons pops up the associated dialog box, in which you can define the attribute, rule or script that you want to use to yield per-object values for comparison:

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Attribute: Select an Attribute from the drop-down list box, whose value (per object) will be inserted as the source or target comparative element of this association. Use the drop-down list to specify the attribute, and click OK:

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Rule: Define a rule to determine how comparative values will be composed, assembled, processed or otherwise derived (per object) for source or target comparative element of this association. A DC connector evaluates this rule as a "sub-expression," and inserts the result for each object into the conditional expression as the source or target comparative element.

A rule assembles an assignment value for each object from any number and combination of source attribute values and text strings, which in turn may be processed in these ways:

•

Keep only a specified portion of the string (defined by the starting and ending character positions), and discard the rest.

•

Append a string of "fill" characters to fill the capacity of the attribute field (character may be a space or any other specified character).

•

Trim a string of repetitive "fill" characters (e.g., spaces) that follow an attribute value.

•

Set a capitalization preference for alphabetic characters in the value.

Use the on-screen controls to enter the rule into the text box, and click OK:

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Script: Enter a script (see example in the screenshot below) to determine the values to assign as the source or target comparative element of this association. Type the script into the text box, and click OK.

Note: A script can be used to assign different values conditionally (per object), whereas a rule (preceding option above) cannot. A script can test environmental conditions (per object), as shown in this example, and then assign different values depending on the outcome of the test.

Clicking OK from the Attribute, Rule or Script dialog box tells the program to dismiss the dialog box and insert the attribute name or the newly defined rule or script into the appropriate comparative-element field of the Object Association dialog box.

Back in the Object Association dialog box: Click the Add button (bottom-left corner) to add the displayed source-target pair of comparative elements into the table list as a single condition of this association definition.

If you want to add another condition (source-target pair) to the list, repeat steps 3 and 4.

Two or more such pairs listed within a single association definition are logically associated by the AND operator. That is, a source object and target object will be deemed associated by this method only if the object pair satisfies all of the conditions in this list.

Still in the Object Association dialog box: When you have defined all of the conditions (source-target pairs) you want to include in this association definition, click OK to dismiss the Object Association dialog box and add the newly defined association method into the table list on the Advanced Settings | Association panel.

Repeat this procedure for each such association you want to add to the list. Remember that if multiple associations are defined in the list, the connector considers them one at a time, sequentially, top to bottom.

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Coexistence Manager for Notes 3.8.4 - User Guide

Advanced Settings tab: Name Rules

Advanced Settings tab: attribute mapping features

Advanced Settings tab: object filtering features

Advanced Settings tab: object association features